Arizona State Senator Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) told The Arizona Sun Times that any cabinet member unwilling to undergo an “in-depth, thorough, accurate, and honest” vetting process by the Arizona Senate should resign.
The state lawmaker made the comments to The Sun Times after Arizona Tourism Director Lisa Urias resigned her position effective December 4, announcing the decision shortly after Hoffman led Republicans questioning the Arizona Office of Tourism’s $700,000 campaign to refresh its public image, which included a $15,225 logo redesign from the brother of the person running a marketing company Urias owns, as was first reported by Arizona Agenda.
It also came hours after Hoffman (pictured above) told The Sun Times he sought investigations from Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell and Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes.
Despite the Arizona Corporation Commission showing Urias maintains ownership of the company, The Arizona Republic reported Urias claimed to turn over daily control of the Urias Communications to CEO Jason Coochwytewa in 2021.
Urias’ abrupt resignation came only hours after she told The Republic, “The Arizona Office of Tourism handled everything about developing this new brand on the complete up-and-up and followed every rule associated with state procurement.”
The outgoing director’s claim the transaction was above-board came despite a portion of the $700,000 being earmarked for the logo redesign being awarded to the brother of Urias Communications CEO Jason Coochwytewa, who is the artist Kevin Coochwytewa.
When revealing her decision to resign to The Republic later on Friday, Urias cited the confirmation process that Hoffman leads in the Arizona Senate, describing being constitutionally confirmed to lead the Arizona Office of Tourism as “the only pain point” about being its director.
“And we can do the jobs, we’re qualified for the jobs,” she told The Republic. “But this whole process has just been the biggest stressor.”
Urias made similar remarks in an official statement about her resignation, declaring, “In light of the Senate Confirmation members making it clear they will not confirm me as Tourism Director—despite the recent allegations being untrue and unfounded—I have tendered my resignation to the Governor.”
Hoffman told The Sun Times that any person nominated by Hobbs who is unwilling to undergo the State Senate’s confirmation process should resign.
“The senate confirmation process under the Arizona Constitution is a necessary and critically important check and balance on the power of the executive branch,” said Hoffman.
He added, “Democrat Katie Hobbs and her cadre of radical nominees seem incapable of understanding that nepotism, pay-to-play, and radical Marxist ideology have no place in our state government.”
Hobbs’ other nominees have struggled to be confirmed by Republicans in the Arizona Senate, including former Arizona Department of Housing nominee Joan Serviss, who Hoffman accused of committing serial plagiarism from activist organizations in letters she wrote to lobby the federal government. The governor later attempted to circumvent confirmation hearings by naming “executive deputy directors” to run state agencies.
Of Hobbs’ other nominees, Hoffman told The Sun Times, “if that’s ‘a pain point’ for people like Lisa Urias or any other of Hobbs’ fake directors, resign now. The people of Arizona didn’t expand our Republican legislative majority so that Katie Hobbs could run roughshod over them; they elected us to keep her in check.”
While Urias maintained that the $700,000 marketing campaign was normal, Hobbs expressed consternation toward the outgoing director during a Friday press conference even after her resignation.
The governor reportedly told the press, “anyone who has the privilege of serving the public needs to be above reproach, and that’s why I accepted her resignation this morning. This appearance of conflict is not acceptable.”
Hobbs’ remarks about Urias’s resignation were delivered as she nears the end of her term as Arizona’s top executive, a period that Hoffman told The Sun Times features “a long track record of pay-to-play scandals.”
It also comes as Secretary of State Adrian Fontes confirmed he is “seriously considering” a Democratic primary challenge against Hobbs for 2026. Some Democrats reportedly consider the governor too weak of a candidate to survive a reelection campaign.
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Jake Hoffman” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
